May 2007 Log: Boatyard Guaymas

Garett: We really tried to wake up at 5:30
am attempting to beat the heat, but instead slept into 6:30 am. Sunrise
is at 5:45 am. We started work at 8:30 am and completed the forms for
the hull extensions. I then spent a couple hours cutting out all the pieces
of mat and bi-axial. As we approached lunchtime and in the heat of the
day (90 F) I realized we need some more fibreglass material, so we decided
to go into town after our siesta.

We caught the Paraje bus but this own was even older
than the other ones we had been on. We sat in the back and were bouncing
up and down on every revolution of the back wheels. I don’t think
the wheels were round any more.

This is a local bus when stopped….

…this is the bus when it starts moving…
It is bumpy!

When we reached downtown we realized it was deserted
as it was the May 1st holiday. We still got some fruit at the super mercado
but the Plastico y Resina store was closed. We got back to the boatyard
at 6 pm and did out first combo fiberglass job of the first hull side.

Taping the edge recesses in the mold.
Reminds me I need to lose weight!

Carllie inside the mold putting
on the edge recesses.

The molds ready for glassing.

Saving of the abandoned
kitten

Carllie: Today we had to go into town to buy a few more supplies.
We knew it was Uno de Mayo, the 1st of May, which is a big dia de fiesta (holiday)
in Mexico, it being their Labour Day. In our total ignorance, we thought the
plastico store might be open so we could get the fibreglassing material we needed.
This was not to be.

On our way down the rough unpaved road to the paved road
where we would catch the bus, just as we were about to cross the street
from the boatyard enclosure, I heard this weird sound in the rough patchy
grass between the sidewalk and the gravel road. It sounded like a squeak:
"Eow! Eow! Eow! Eow!" Walking on these roads and sidewalks in
Mexico outside the busier downtown areas, one often sees tiny lizards
skittering away across one’s path, and I actually thought it might be
some totally different desert species we had never seen before. So I called
back Garett who was a few paces ahead of me, and we looked at the grassy
area from whence the sound was coming. I couldn’t see anything, but Garett
did and said, "It’s a kitten!" I looked, and there was this
very tiny little calico kitten walking towards us in the grass, squeaking
away. I guess she had seen us and called out to us, her last hope for
survival in this big jungle.

A very anxious six-week old kitten
climbs to the highest possible spot
when I picked her up to bring her
home to safety.

I picked her up, and felt her tiny bones
and spine right through her pretty calico coat. She immediately started
purring. Even such a tiny cat, so obviously traumatized and weak, has
a "contentment motor". Wouldn’t it be nice if we could respond
so quickly and positively to the tiny acts of kindness and beauty we encounter
in a day? Then she started climbing up my top to get to the highest possible
spot. She was weak and obviously dehydrated. We were on our mission to
buy supplies, so quickly turned back towards the yard and asked our friends
Herb and Juliet through the chain-link fence if they would look after
the wee thing until we returned when we would take her off their hands.
Of course they said they would. Walking back, to get her to stop the incessant
climbing, likely brought on by an instinct to get as far above the dangers
of the ground as possible, I held her gently in my hands at chest level
and talked to her as I softly blew in her face. For some reason this seemed
to calm her, and she relaxed and stopped climbing. By the time I got back
to the boatyard gate and doubled back to Herb’s boat, he had put some
water in a bowl for our patient. As soon as I put her head down towards
the water, she slurped it up greedily. You have to understand how extremely
dehydrated she was for her to actually drink water. We would later find
over the course of several days of caring for and being seduced by this
wee kitten that cats don’t like water in any form–to drink, to bathe,
to touch. The only way I could get water into her later was by putting
a little water on top of whatever form of fish I was feeding her. Herb
told me later that when he gave her a bit of tuna she just attacked it.
I bet. The poor little thing was starving, scared, and I believe very
near perishing. That’s why her "eows" didn’t sound like the
normal meows of a kitten but squeaks.

When we got home, we collected the kitty from her temporary
caregivers, and took her home to Light Wave. We figured having
to climb up and down a big ladder to get onto the hulls would discourage
her from exploring venturing off the boat as the boatyard is full of dogs,
only two of which have been tamed, and they would just rip her to shreds
and have her for dinner. She wouldn’t last a day.

Looking worn and hungry on
her first day with us, Maggie perches
at our starboard hull hatch, wanting
to get down with us as we are her
saviors.

Her story must be that some Mexicans, who
by and large don’t like cats because all they do is eat and sleep whereas
dogs provide security, had thrown her out the window or dumped her, and
somehow she had survived by hiding in the grass where she hid from the
prowling wild dogs and coyotes that abound in this area. When we happened
upon her she might have been out on her own for a couple of days, and
was on her last meow so to speak.

The next four days we grew accustomed to "Maggie"
and she to us. While we were in town, we did find one big super mercado
(supermarket) open, and bought some canned cat food and a pint of milk.
I fed the very weak little creature, who was nonetheless squeaking constantly
and climbing as soon as I picked her up, a little cat food mixed with
milk. She gobbled it up, and I put out a couple of our extra towels, molded
into a bed for her. The cockpit is shaded by our awnings from the sun
which is daily becoming harsher, so she was comfortable.

It still amazes how this this tiny baby, who obviously
had not yet been weaned from her mama, being only six to eight weeks old,
was so smart and street savvy. When I tried to introduce her to the two
friendly boatyard dogs, she hissed, spat and arched her back. The dogs
slunk away. Although we had befriended these two dogs who are fed by the
night watchman, and they had been sleeping in the shade of Light Wave
during the hot sun, they would having nothing to do with us for the four
or five days we had Maggie. What a laugh. One big black lab owned by a
Canadian boater, is a non-stop stick chaser. Cohen will run for a stick
as long as you want to throw it. One day Garett was throwing the stick
for Cohen from the ground beside the boat. Cuddling the kitty on the boat,
I walked over to the side to watch the hilarious stick retrievals. Cohen
immediately dropped the stick, literally tucked his tail between his legs,
and slunk away.

Steve Rankin’s ultimate stick
chasing, dog Cohen, who is scared
to death of tiny kittens.

Garett couldn’t figure out why this enthusiastic dog
had suddenly lost all interest in stick chasing. It was because he had
seen the kitty, a little thing that must weigh half a pound if that and
is no more than 8 inches long bow to stern. Cohen’s master/buddy/owner,
Steve Rankin, who has eight cats at home and was later a great help with
Maggie, told us that Cohen is scared to death of cats. What a hoot. Shades
of Garfield and Odie.

Exploring…

As soon as we introduced Maggie to Light Wave, this
tiny beleaguered baby had to explore of course. We did not allow her into
our three separate living areas, but she jumped up and down following
us around the boat. We were her saviors, and she knew it. That first day,
when Garett went down into our starboard hull to get some tools she couldn’t
figure out how to get down the steps, but in a flash her little head was
peering at him through the little porthole over our head while she "eowed!"
her desire to be down there with him. From then on, whenever either of
us were in that hull, she appeared at the porthole or at the hatch. Eventually,
she figured out how to get down into the hull, but not in comfort! She
leapt from the top of the stairs. I was looking the other way and turned
around just in time to see her leap and "Bonk!" land on her
head. I scooped her up and cooed at her while I consoled her. It took
a minute for the shock to register, then she "Yeowled!" her
cries of distress while I comforted and cuddled her and told her gently
that that’s what you get when you do stupid things. Some mother! I was
just glad she hadn’t broken her silly little neck. Just like little kids
who insist on touching hot stoves in spite of mother’s warnings, baby
animals have to learn their lessons.

Garett worked through the day on our construction project
and I worked inside on writing, cooking and reading while our calico friend
learned to be content and sleep in the cuddy cabin in her little towel
bed. In the late evening after I had helped him with some fibreglassing
when it cooled down, we retired to our cuddy cabin to have dinner and
now she really had to get in here with us! She "eowed" for quite
a while, then hopped up into our walkway, walked forward and peered at
us through our big open screened hatch in front of our saloon. We were
amazed. This little thing is only about six weeks old, and she immediately
figures out how to get closest to us. She tried to sit in the recess for
the hatch where she could at least keep us in visual range, but soon realized
it wasn’t very comfortable so made her way back to her secure little nest
in the cockpit.

Maggie wanted to be cuddled at night
but we couldn’t bring her into our
living space, so I cuddled her each
time I came out into the cockpit,
if she was awake.

Initially, I adopted a matter-of-fact attitude
towards our little charge. I was really worried about what would happen
to her when we leave Guaymas in June, as we cannot take her with us. How
will she survive? If some Mexican people are so unfeeling about cats that
they would actually dump a vulnerable little kitten on the side of the
road, how on Earth would we find a home for her? If we simply left her
in the boatyard, the feral dogs who live here would soon hunt her down.
While I hoped to find a home for her, I knew that the only way I could
deal with this was to be as objective as possible to try to keep some
distance with my patient, as a doctor would with a suffering child I guess.
So, I talked to her like this: "No, you can’t have more food. You
may as well get used to it. Just relax and go to sleep." But I did
pet her and cuddle her regularly to soothe her little heart. I got nothing
out of the cuddling, of course. Once she learned she was not in danger,
she stopped climbing as much, and particularly if her little belly was
full she would soon go to sleep in my hand, cupped against my chest and
held into my other arm. She liked to burrow her little head into the crook
of my arm, particularly if she was upset–like the day I gave her a bath,
and the couple of times she was sick. What any baby wants is the feel
and sound of a heartbeat; thus they nestle in, if not with their own mother,
with a surrogate. At night, I would come out to use the facilities, and
in spite of the fact that she always vigorously voiced her opinion about
being left outside while we retired inside, she would be curled up in
a sweet little ball fast asleep on her little towel bed. She is a very
affectionate little thing, and her rapid reliance upon us and trust in
us wore away our crusty resolve, and we fell in love with her.

Sob! Once or twice when she was burrowing
into my folded arm, she found a little mole that is right in the crook
of my arm. Guess she thought it was the nipple she was seeking, as she
immediately started kneading my fortunately clothed arm with her tiny
feet as she had done with her mother’s belly. It was not hard to tell
this baby had not been weaned when she was ripped away from the comfort
of her mother and siblings and thrown out onto the street. In all fairness
to the Mexican people, we have to remember that there are a few Canadians
and Americans who are just as cruel and unfeeling with animals. Also,
the average Mexican has far less disposable income and time than the average
Canadian or American, so most of them have no use for a critter that doesn’t
contribute something for its keep.

Twice, Maggie was sick. She mewed pitifully, then began
heaving just like big humans do, until she threw up what was upsetting
her tummy. I soon found out from Herb that cow’s milk is not good for
cats as it sours in their tummies. Sure enough, as soon as I stopped putting
milk out for her, which she always lapped up probably because it was the
closest consistency to mother cat’s milk and quenched her thirst without
having to resort to the dreadful water, she stopped getting sick. Interesting,
because cow’s milk is not good for humans either. (Garett: By the way,
Carllie failed to mention that the other reason she might have got sick
was that she had ground a clove of garlic into her food in attempt to
"naturally" deworn her. Poor kitty.)

What’s that on your whiskers?
Couldn’t be water!

However, before I learned this little piece of cat wisdom,
the second time Maggie was sick it was pretty bad, and the rejected contents
of her tummy came out both ends while she pathetically mewed her unhappiness.
We learned in the few days we had with our little friend how many tones
of voice even a tiny little kitten meow has. This night, she was very
weak and mewed weakly and unhappily, not even finding the energy to follow
our feet around as she did every time we stepped into the cockpit, nor
"eow!" her frustration when we closed the door of the cuddy
cabin to relax and have dinner. I was not immune to her suffering, however,
and before we retired to the cuddy cabin for dinner I picked her up very
gently and cuddled her for awhile, soothing her with my heartbeat and
the sound of my voice, while she burrowed into the crook of my arm. All
attempts at "objectivity" died that evening. There is nothing
like a vulnerable little baby to break down one’s resolve and defences.
During our dinner/movie every few minutes I peeked out, to check on her.
She had retreated to her towel bed with no protests tonight.

In the middle of the night, when I awoke and checked
on her, she had regained her happy buoyant little personality, and was
ready to socialize. I was not. After a hard day’s work in the hot sun,
each night we are so exhausted we don’t even dream. We have to get up
very early in the morning, say 5:30 or 6:00, so we can get in four or
five hours of work before mid-day scorching heat, around 1:00 when we
have lunch and a siesta. I did cuddle her a bit, to which she promptly
responded as always with purring and nestling in. Soon I felt myself nodding
off again, so put her back down though she "eowed" her protest.

She would curl up each night in her
little towel bed, like a little caterpillar.
Very endearing, soft, sweet and trusting
that we would protect her.

Later that morning when I got up I was still thinking
of her as having been sick and didn’t want to feed her, certainly not
milk. She voiced her opinion on that matter, "Eow! Eow! Eow! Eow!"
for a couple of hours and even put her face into my plate of breakfast
fruit, she was so hungry, but I didn’t get it. (Some mommie!) Finally,
when I did put out some of the tuna that Herb had fed her, as soon as
she smelled it she went berserk. She didn’t even look at her little food
plate, but attacked me (as much as a six-week-old kitten can attack) with
vociferous "Eow’s!", grabbing my ankle as I tried to walk away.
I gently turned her around and directed her little face at the food. Well!
She attacked that Albacore white tuna like she hadn’t eaten for a week.
And as this was her third day with us, she really hadn’t fully recovered
her strength and then she was so sick she had lost any advantage she had
gained. I felt guilty that I had so densely had ignored her early morning
pleas for food and kept her waiting until about 10 a.m. Unlike our friends
Marni and Peter Siddons who are cruising with their two cats, we were
yet to learn the ways of the feline species: enchanting, funny, demanding,
opinionated, affectionate, responsive, yet dependant on human kindness.

On the second day of our time with Maggie, I knew it was
time to give her a bath. She had been in surviving in the wild and her little
face was dirty, though miraculously her white fluffy fur that is the background
for the pretty orange and black markings on a calico, was pure white and
very soft. I took her into the ladies washroom with a a medium size bowl
and my natural cleaning stuff that have no harsh solvents in them: TKO orange
spray and Pink Solution. I put lots of Pink Solution in the bowl and filled
it with water, then gently lowered her into it, telling her that she wasn’t
going to like this. Well, she didn’t. Using my gloved hands, I put little
bits of water over her and rubbed, and very soon the water turned black.
She yowled her protest non-stop at me, but did not scratch at all or bite
until I brought her home in a towel and she gave me a few little bites .
I had to hold her quite firmly as she was thoroughly fed up after 15 minutes
soaking wet, and told her firmly that I wasn’t going to let her go to get
killed. She was so humiliated and anxious she wouldn’t talk to me for an
hour, but after that she was my very best friend, even more affectionate
than before. She thought I was her mommy as I laid the law down, and cuddled
her when I could.

When she was wet, I could see muchos pulgas (fleas) burrowed into her
skin, as I had suspected. Steve, who was preparing his boat to leave for
the season, has eight cats at his home ranch and loves them. When he visited
the vet to get some special flea treatment for the stick-chasing cat-fearing
Cohen, he very kindly bought some for me as well, and then applied it.
This stuff is called First Line and is far better than flea powder. It’s
a liquid form, and Steve applied one drop directly to Maggie’s skin at
the ruff of her neck, then massaged it in with the tip of the applicator.
The treatment is absorbed into the animal’s system, and all fleas immediately
vacate, like within two days. It’s amazing. He had also bought some de-wormer
pills for Cohen, and he cut one in half and gave it to Maggie by turning
her on her back, gently applying pressure with the thumb and forefinger
on each side of her jaw thus opening her jaw, dropping the pill down her
throat, and then massaging her neck until she swallowed. Steve explained
that an animal will eat the fleas, and then the next stage is that the
fleas give the animals tapeworms! Anyway, now our little visitor is doubly
protected: from the awful fleas and the even more awful tapeworms. The
treatments should last several months.

The parting was very hard, but we had to find a safe home for her as
Mexico is not cat-friendly. It is barely dog-friendly. The only reason
dogs survive here and are taken by families is for "securidad"
–security. A cat, according to one Mexican fellow I asked, only eats
and sleeps. On May 5th, after four full days with our darling charge,
I got an opportunity to get a ride 15-20 miles to the adjacent city, San
Carlos, where there are a couple of big marinas occupied largely by Americans,
and a big boatyard. They have a weekly swap meet and I realized this was
my best chance to find a loving safe home for Maggie. She is most adorable
and appealing now. If we were to wait until just before we leave, six
weeks from now, we may not find a home for her and she will be much bigger,
more independent and perhaps (though this is hard to imagine) a little
less appealing. The car ride there was very upsetting for the wee kitty,
but Jacinda, a friendly young New Zealander who is in the boatyard with
her mate Clint, helped sooth her. When we arrived at the mini swap meet,
I set up the little pet carrier another boater had donated to the cause,
along with a sign Garett had printed saying in Spanish and English: Kitten
for sale, $100 pesos ($10), including cat carrier, food, medicine. We
thought we should ask for a bit of money as then people would think they
were getting a deal, whereas if you give something away no one wants it.

There were people all over the place, so Maggie continued to be a little
anxious, but went about exploring while I followed her around to make
sure she didn’t wander too far. Everyone admired her and a few picked
her up. Who can resist a tiny kitten? Eventually after eating she snuggled
in and fell asleep in my hand, folded across my chest. Such a darling.
Sob!

When we stepped into the cockpit Maggie
followed our feet everywhere. She was near
to being stepped on many times…

One 40-ish woman, Maria, was very tempted as she loves
cats and Maggie is so darling and so sweet natured. But she wanted to
think about it overnight, in fact she forced herself to do so as she didn’t
want make an emotional decision knowing she is on a boat and considering
how she would care for the kitten. Anyway, this big kindly looking Mexican
fellow came along and stopped, looking at the sign and me holding the
purring kitten. This surprised me as I expected no interest from Mexicans.
But I went into my sales spiel: "Quierre una gatita?" (Do you
want a kitten?) In retrospect, I should have said, "Legustaria una
gatita?" (Would you like a kitten?") Turns out he spoke English,
so I could extoll Maggie’s virtues freely and give him my wholehearted
sales pitch. He told me that his wife loves cats but they already had
four cats at home(!!!) My heart sank: four cats, what hope was there?
I continued encouraging him, telling him how sweet natured the kitten
was, and showing him the flea treatment and dewormer tablet, telling him
she was clean of fleas and any possibility of worms now, and how everything
was included in the price. He smiled, didn’t say much, and slowly walked
down along the other tables people had set up. Maria came back, and hmmed
and hawed over the kitten but still wanted to wait overnight. I was a
little uneasy with this as although I planned to leave her with a local
lady who does a cat shelter thing, I couldn’t be sure Maggie would be
permanently and lovingly cared for. Anyway, Maria sauntered off and I
sat down with Maggie sleeping in my hand. Much to my surprise, the Mexican
fellow came back with much purpose in his step, and $100 pesos in his
hand, and said he would take her.

Now my heart sank. Maggie was sleeping and purring in my hand, and I had
to hand her over to this fellow, Hermando, who was a total stranger. However,
I did and she eowed her protest at being again taken away from mommy.
She was still crying as he walked away with the carrier in one hand and
Maggie held gently against his chest in the other. I was holding back
tears, as I explained to him that I was her mommy, so it would take awhile
for her to get used to him, and he seemed to understand that.

Maria watched Hermando leave with the kitten, and realized she’d missed
her chance to have a darling companion. I think she regretted it.

I felt awful, and had a big lump in my throat all the way home. When I
got home where Garett was working on the boat, he told me he had missed
our little friend too. I told him the story of how she had found a good
home, but we both felt awful. The rest of the day was pretty tough as
we were so used to Maggie’s little "eows" as soon as we stepped
up into the cockpit from our work, to her sitting on the aft beam watching
us work on the ground at night, to her antics whenever we opened a can
of tuna or (goodness gracious!) steamed and fried fresh prawns (she did
get 3 cooked prawns chopped very fine, over the space of 3 hours and was
in kitty heaven), to her affectionate cuddling as soon as we picked her
up, her playfulness and efforts to get into the cuddy cabin or sleeping
hull when we had retired to eat or sleep (she immediately found any open
hatches and eowed at the screens or laid on them).

It took a couple of days to get over losing our little
companion. Early on when I was worried about Maggie’s future, I asked
Garett several times, "We had to bring her home, didn’t we?"
meaning we had no choice, this little creature was on death’s door and
would not have survived with all the stray dogs in this area (there are
about 10 in the boatyard alone and tons in the area). Even my logical,
even tempered, objective Garett immediately agreed, "Yes. We had
to bring her home." He was sure we would find a home for her, and
I began visualizing our wall of protection around ourselves and Light
Wave extending out to encompass Maggie. I hope you aren’t too disgusted
with that. I know it’s not…well wait a minute? It is universal as it’s
looking after "God’s" creatures. "I believe I must respect
all Nature and should not hurt in word or deed."

So that’s our poignant story for the month. We still miss Maggie. She
was a delightful and entertaining little companion, and in writing this
story my heart still bleeds.

These are my shoes, and I think
she knew my scent. Sob! I keep reminding
myself that we couldn’t have taken her
with us, and she is safe in her new home.

Saturday May 5, 2007

Garett: Today is the day of the monthly Boaters Swap
Meet at the San Carlos Marina. Carllie though it might be an opportunity
to find a home for our new calico boat kitty.

We woke up at 7 am and Carllie got the cat carrier that
our friend Jason had given to us, bag of cat litter, 4 cans of Whisker
cat food, and the leftover flea removal drops and dewormer pills, and
of course little Maggie and got a lift with Ted from the boatyard.

Play time.

After they left I sure missed that cute little kitty.
It had only been four days and that kitten had become part of our boat
team. I could still see her perched on the aft beam quietly sitting and
looking at us fiberglassing for two hours in the dark.

Maggie fascinated with our late night
fiberglassing work.

I would periodically break from my work
and meow at her and she would always meow back. I sure miss her…
But it would have been harder if we waited another five weeks until June
18 when we leave.

May 2 to May 4, 2007

Molds just about to be pulled off.

Outside molds pulled off the new hull additions.
Doesn’t look very promising yet, does it? Garett
envisioned every step of the procedure, and
reassured me.

View from above of added starboard section.

Complicated jig holds the new stern firmly in position
until we can glass in the sole, the stringers, and
the bulkheads.

Trying to level everything.

Another session ‘glassing late at night
when it cools down.

Sunday, May 6, 2007

Carllie: Life in a boatyard is fun, whether it is at home or here in
Mexico. It’s a little more fun here because we have befriended the Mexican
workers in the yard, and the young Mexican Gabriel fellow who manages
the place for his father and lives on the property with his wife and son.
Temperatures when we arrived, April 22nd, were about 85 degrees F during
the day. Now the temperatures have gone as high as 103 degrees, though
for the last several days it’s been "cool" at between 90 and
96 degrees. It’s amazing what you get used to. Thankfully, temperature
drops in the evening so far, allowing us to get a good night’s rest.

New friend, Steve Rankin, from Comox.

As of today, after about 8-9 days of buying supplies and Garett’s
almost non-stop work with my assistance with decisions along the way,
all ‘glassing, and of course feeding the workers, these extensions
are really taking shape. You will see when we update our website the progressive
stages of the project and how at first the additions looked pretty awkward
and weird. Now they fit right into the natural lines of the hulls. We
think Light Wave will look much better with these extended hulls.

Today was an open market downtown, and so we bussed there
in search of a used reciprocal saw (commonly known as a "Sawsall").
We did find a really good Milwaukee sawsall for only $70; it would have
cost over $200 new.

The open market.

You want tools?
This is the place.

Missing a socket from your socket wrench set?

Does your child want a stuffed animal? Need
company for those lonely night-time passages?

Crowded main sidewalk on Serdan Street where
we caught the bus to San Carlos. School kids get
out at about 1 or 1:30 and they packed the
sidewalks waiting for their buses and flirting
and laughing with each other.

Shoreline road to San Carlos.
It is about 10 miles and 1 hour of bus rides
to get to the only marine store in the area.
We can get general lumber, hardware,
and stuff just a few minutes from the yard.

Zyranja and Carllie at the Star Marine Supply store.

Mother and her happy daughter on the bus.
It is interesting that most mothers in Mexico
stay home with their children. Less money,
but better upbringing!

More cutting.

Late night ‘glassing.

I spent two days making
the frames for the decks.

Fitting the new decks.

King of the mountain. Our new
helipads almost looking good!

Saturday May 12, 2007 – Typical Builder’s Log
by Garett for Day 16

Garett: Today’s jobs done:

Woke up really early, before it got hot, and glued
in all 32 pieces of hull framing with Carllie

Glued on all 9 oz cloth to both sides of new decks

Glued in reinforcing for swim ladder

Filled in all screw holes on floor frame

Faired transoms

Took apart rudder hinges

Drilled oversize holes for hinges so ready to be epoxy
filled.

Midnight update

I just woke up from a little nap after falling asleep
in the middle of a video which we tried to watch after eating another
one of Carllie’s great dinners.

Today was another day of progress even though it is getting
very very hot.. We woke up early at 6 am so we could get and early start
to glue in all the pieces that make up the frame for the floors. Carllie
was mixing the epoxy and then adding the special 406 filler (glass bubbles)
in small batches with the slow hardener and then I coated the glue edges
of each piece (32 of them which I cut and fitted yesterday). We are seeing
some visible progress and we think that the boat will actually look better,
as well as have the real benefits of less hobby horsing, better speed
and less noise.

Our usual daily routine is to work from 8 to 2 pm and
then take 2 hour siesta break in the heat of the day and then work from
4 to 8 of 9 pm. The temperature hit 101 F by noon and it is too getting
hot to sleep in the afternoon. My new strategy to deal with the heat is
to soak my shirt, shorts, and hat in the sink every hour and this keeps
me cool as the water quickly evaporates in the super dry air (only 20
% relative humidity).

The finished gluing job x 2 hulls.

We have now been out of the water 17 days and we have
another 36 days left. This gives us 8 days to finish the transom modification,
then 3 weeks to the lifting of the cuddy cabin and cockpit, and then 1
week to prep the boat for the 3 months left alone in the summer. I think
we will still make it. This modification of the transoms is a significant
modification as it turn out we are adding 4 feet to the boat which is
13% increase. Though all this has been a lot of work Carllie and I both
agree it is far less work than building a bigger boat. We just don’t
think we have the energy in us to it. Life is too short. The meter is
ticking down in life.

Well I am going to spend a half hour working on my article
for Multihulls Magazine on adding the hardtop and arch that Carllie is
after me to finish by our May 15th deadline and then it is off to bed
and see if I can wake up at my ambitious 5 am wake up. Goodnight everyone!
Another long day.

Tuesday, May 15, 2006

Carllie: A whole week has
passed, and Garett has almost finished his incredible job of extending
the hulls. He has done a fantastic job. The extensions are very sturdy
and of course the lines of the extensions continue on naturally from the
original hull lines. We have included two bulkheads in each extension,
one being the original transom of the hull, and the second being in the
middle of the new section. These bulkheads, in addition to the stringers
Garett glued in along the centreline of the hull sections and along the
sides, considerably reinforced the plywood reinforced fibreglass extensions.
Garett spent two days building the deck tops for the new sections and
‘glassing them on both sides, and two nights ago we attached them to the
stringers on the hull tops with epoxy glue. The extensions were now very
strong indeed, no flexing whatsoever. Then last night, after Garett had
again shaped the sharp edges of the new hull tops with his grinder, we
wrapped the joins with biaxial roving cloth and epoxy. At this very moment,
Garett is grinding again, in this Tyvek coverall in the 88 degree F. heat,
continuing the fairing process smoothing the epoxy fairing compound he
has been applying to the new sections. The object is to get the new sections
as fair as possible, then make diagonal lines between the original hulls
and the new sections and paint the new sections with whatever yellow paint
we can find in the local paint stores here. Here we cannot get our high-quality
System Three yellow paint that will exactly match our existing paint,
so this will be stop gap until we get Light Wave home. Next time
we haul out in Vancouver, Garett will use his big professional sanding
block (2 feet long) to fair the extensions perfectly, and we will repaint
them with the right type and color of yellow paint.

The first bit of blue fairing
compound on bottom.

Holes over-drilled and filled with epoxy
for the rudder hinges.

Top grid of stringers glued in and
ready for decking.

Deck ready to be glued on with the help
of 60 temporary screws (and the Boatbuilder’s Wife!).

Dramatic backdrop
of the surrounding
peaks at sunset in Guaymas.

Carllie mixing epoxy late at night
when it is cool.

Carllie: Light Wave looks noticeably more streamlined
with the additional length already, even though the extensions haven’t
been painted, as you will see in the pictures. So once we get them painted
a close shade of yellow, she will be looking pretty good. Already this
is feeling like one of those many improvements we have made on Light
Wave where we will be saying, "Why didn’t we do this earlier?"
Of course, we didn’t even think about extending the hulls until we were
in Mazatlan in January visiting with our friends Joe and Kathy aboard
their lovely Seawind 34 cat, Katty Kat. Joe told us that the
Seawind company is now doing extensions to the Seawind 34’s, extending
the hulls by 3 feet to make the ride more comfortable. At that point the
light went on, and over the next couple of months it brewed in Garett’s
mind until ultimately it percolated into the defined vision of extending
Light Wave’s hulls 3 feet (in reality closer to 4) in addition
to raising the cuddy cabin and cockpit when we are on the hard in Guaymas.

It seems an extreme modification, but Garett visualized
it all step-by-step very quickly and, just like "cutting out the
cuddy cabin and cockpit", he was confident we could do it in a short
period of time on a small budget (muchos smaller than the $10 or $20,000
the Seawind Company likely charges Seawind 34 owners to do 3-foot hull
extensions!). Garett’s capability and tenacity amazes me daily. He created
a detailed list 3 pages long of all the steps involved in building these
extensions, about 70 steps in all I think, and we are now down to the
last 3 or 4 steps. He works every single day, getting out of bed very
early and inspecting his work from the day before, and working almost
all day long with a lunch-siesta midday. I usually work with him once
the sun goes down doing GRP resin or Epoxy resin mixing, brushing and
rolling with him at a very very fast rate. There we are, out there in
the dark with our trouble light, the cockpit light and a headlight (like
the Borg!) that I wear so I can see what I am mixing, brushing and rolling.
The two friendly boatyard dogs, Sassy and Lobo, meander over nearby and
we talk to them a bit. Then we chat with the night watchman, Isaac, in
Spanish of course as the only Mexicans here who speak English are the
manager Gabriel and his wife Maria Dolores. Almost all the other "Norte
Americanos y Canadienses" have left now, but still one or two will
come by and comment on our industrious work so late at night. It is far
easier to work in the evenings, however.

The great thing about our situation is that at our request
Gabriel positioned the boat right between two other catamarans (we did
not want to be around any monohulls that can topple over in a hurricane),
and we happen to within eyesight of the night watchman’s little building,
directly across from the washrooms and showers, and also right across
from the office. So security is very very good, and the accessibility
to the showers makes it that much easier keep cool during the day with
two or three showers, and one final shower after our late night ‘glassing
sessions. Then we retire to our cuddy cabin to watch some movie or TV
show we have downloaded with the great wireless Internet connection we
very fortunately have here. We contribute a measly $10/month towards its
expense, and feel it is well worth it as we can also enjoy making long
Skype phone calls to our friends, and receiving and send emails and completed
articles easily. Last night we just finished polishing up Garett’s next
great "how to" article for the July-August issue of Multihulls
Magazine, entitled "A Hardtop for the Working Cat", and
sent it out with 14 photos via email lickety-split. Ahhh! The joys of
technology. As long as you don’t have to be physically a part of the world
that creates it, that is!

It is now 12:09 p.m., and Garett has spent about an hour
grinding while I’ve been writing. He is into the tostadas and wonderful
Herdez salsa sauce, so it’s time for me to make lunch! My chief roles
in this boat modification process are to keep the boat swept of dust as
much as possible; gradually clean out the interior of the boat readying
her for our absence while she is alone on the hard; mix GRP resin or epoxy
resin, brush and roll onto matting and roving; and most importantly buy
groceries and feed the designer builder! What a guy! You folks won’t believe
the difference in Light Wave when we sail down the Fraser River
to our home marina next July! Will any of you be on a boat to meet us
in the Gulf Islands, we wonder? It is possible to charter boats, you know!
Wouldn’t that be great??? There’s a seed planted.

As I have said before, my cooking has become far more
creative and interesting during this voyage. I make really interesting
sushi now, and I now know how to make roasted vegetarian pizza that
is to die for! I also make a really wonderful bread called Irish
Freckle Bread and in spite of our avoidance of chocolate for the last
five years, a wonderfully easy chocolate cake that requires no eggs or
butter, called Mud Cake, courtesy of Judy Lloyd on Deja Too.
This cake actually tastes better when it’s cooled and retains its moisture
3-4 days if well wrapped and kept in a ziplock bag. In addition, if I
have access to real feta cheeseI make a Greek Salad that’s a pretty close
replica of the to-die-for Greek Salad at the Greek House Restaurant in
Winfield that we visit as much as possible when we are visiting Kalaway
Bay Resort on Kalamalka Lake in the summer months. (You can or will soon
be able to find all of these recipes are in Great Cruising Recipes section
of this website.) The creative cooking and the fact that good food is
ready for him to eat when he’s ready for a break seems to inspire Garett
and keep him going in his creative boatbuilding work. I am also whittling
away at the cleaning, organizing and sorting jobs I would like to finish
before we leave Light Wave in June.

Estevan, one of the employees of the boatyard,
and his daughter Nicole Esmeralda.

The real nasty fiberglass grinding
needs a special suit
so I don’t get the itvhy fibers on me.

Light Wave at sunset looking more like a boat
again.

New sterns in the final (but seemingly interminable)
fairing stage.

Garett doing more sanding…

Sunset in the boatyard.

Thursday May 17, 2007

Garett: It has now been 21 days into our "little"
project and the last three days has been the hard work of fairing the
hull extensions. This means applying dozens of small batches of filler
and then sanding it off with a combination of power sander, board sander,
and hand sanding, getting hull additions progressively more level and
fair. Hard work. By the time we have dinner at 8 pm I am really tired.
It looks like we will do some painting in next few days.

…even more sanding…(great for the stomach
and arms!)

Applying even more fairing filler…

Dogs Days of Mexico

Carllie: The first night we stayed here in the boatyard
on Light Wave, I woke up to a chorus of dogs and, I thought,
coyotes howling and barking up a storm. There are 20 to 25 feral dogs
in this boatyard and the one adjacent to it, and every night they take
turns starting the chorus. I doubt if there are any coyotes nearby, though
there could be. The dogs howl like nobody’s business. Some sound like
ambulance sirens; no wonder a siren gets them going. If one starts, very
soon they all join in.

Two of these dogs were quasi adopted by Isaac, the night
watchman, several years ago. They are Sassy, a very pretty female, and
her "son" Lobo, who has a serious under bite. For the first
week of our residence, Sassy and Lobo rested in the shadow of Light
Wave during the heat of the day. Then, we adopted Maggie, our little
kitten, and the two dogs would have nothing to do with us. For the last
few days, I have been watching out for Sassy during the day as she is
ailing. She appears to be blind, and she hasn’t eaten for five days now,
though she does drink water. We are hoping she is doing a cleansing and
will resume eating and get better soon.

Lobo, one of the boatyard dogs
with a serious under bite.

The first day we were here, we went down to the water
and found the cutest little puppy being entertained by a group of workmen.
At the time, she was only a couple of months old and when I picked her
up, she "mewed" and sang like a baby. She has always loved to
play with our feet and shoelaces while we are doing our morning exercises,
pulling Garett’s shoelaces and biting my ankles.

This adorable female puppy, a month or two old,
is the pup of one of the feral dogs who live
down by the water. We visit her most mornings
when we go down there to exercise. She’s much bigger
now, three weeks later!

One young New Zealander, Jacinda who is here with her
mate Clint, has taken the puppy on and spends some time each day scratching
her tummy, picking off fleas off, and feeding her. As a result, at the
time of updating this website three weeks later, the puppy is quite well
socialized and comes gamboling towards us as soon as she hears our voices
in the morning. She lives in a space under a slab of concrete at the waterfront,
and her mother very cautiously watches from afar whenever any of us visit.
Although the puppy still goes after her mama’s teats, I think she will
soon be weaned and will be in as desperate a state as the rest of them
for food. Though I think they do get discards from the fishermen and packing
plant nearby. Except for Sassy, Lobo and the puppy, all of these feral
dogs back off immediately if you call to them. They are scared of humans,
probably because they have been kicked or had rocks thrown at them. Some
Mexicans have a very different attitude towards animals. I can only say
that I am thankful I was able to find a home for Maggie the calico kitten
so she would never have to try to survive this "dog eat cat"
world!

Update May 20: After two or three days of babysitting
Sassy in the cool shade under Light Wave, coaxing water into
her as we could, patting her and scratching her neck, she worsened and
died yesterday. This was pretty hard on me, as I stayed with her right
until the end and she was in a lot of pain, convulsing and trembling.
She was completely blind for the last few days of her life, yet responded
immediately when she heard the voice of the night watchman, Isaac, who
had adopted her and gave her love, food and water each night. Though she
was so weak she couldn’t move, after not eating for over a week, her tail
would thump and she tried to get up. Dogs, particularly sweet-natured
ones like Sassy, add so much to our lives, and it is very sad to lose
them. Sassy died very young, only 3 years old, as she had some kind of
stomach sickness.

Saturday May 19, 2007

Garett: The fairing is almost done. My arms can’t take
much more. (C: His hands were so sore last night that while we watched
a video I spent about an hour massaging them with a special cream.) Just
a little more this morning and then we can put some primer which will
at least change the color to something else other than fibreglass and
fairing brown.

Garett painted on a special grey epoxy barrier
below the waterline.

We are now down to 29 working days before we take the
bus to Phoenix on Monday June 18. I hope we make it.

Sunday May 20, 2007

The fairing is now done and we finally put on some primer.

Nice white primer.
Yellow still to come.

Though it would have been nice to have been out for the three
last weeks cruising to some of the anchorages in the northern Sea of Cortez,
we both agree that it has been better to do the boat work now while it is still
is reasonably cool. We will then be able to relax over the summer and be all
keen and ready to go in September when the water is even warmer than it is now.

Monday May 21, 2007

We still had to do the painting of the hull extensions, but
since we had to wait a couple of hours between coats of paint we decided to
dive into the raise the center cabin project.

We spent the next two days taking everything our of the center
cabin. Boy we sure have a lot of stuff! We had eight big boxes of stuff which
we piled up on a pallet beside the boat. No wonder we are so low in the water!
In the process, Carllie gave away a few things that we don’t use.

We then had to disconnect all the wire, plumbing and antennas
that came from the hulls into the main cabin. Let me tell you, there are a lot
of wires. I did manage to rig some outside wires so we could keep our refrigeration
unit going for the next couple of weeks and Carllie could continue to make our
meals here.

We had originally thought we would stay in a nearby motel for
the one week when the cuddy cabin would be unlivable, but we decided we could
still use the port hull for sleeping and just do some light meal preparation
in the covered area under the boat next to us. This began our 16 day span of
living in our port sleeping hull and eating our evening meal while watching
a downloaded movie in there as well.

Wednesday May 23, 2007

Today we took off the hardtop and the whole stainless arch
leaving no shade in the cockpit. That didn’t really matter for long because
we cut out the whole cockpit floor too.

Our normal pattern of waking up at 6 am and working until 1
pm, when we would take a siesta changed as it started getting hotter and hotter.
By noon it was always around 100 F or above and was impossible to sleep so it
just became easier to soak my t-shirt with water and keep working with its cooling
effect. (C: We both had three or four showers a day to cool off. I never used
a towel, but let the water evaporate from my skin, thus cooling me for a longer
period of time.)

After putting support jacks under the center cabin, I then
got out my new used "Sawzall" reciprocating saw with a big 10 inch
blade and for two days literally went right around the whole center cabin making
a about 100 surgical cuts to in some way minimize the amount of rebuilding,
fairing, and painting. (C: This was a very very traumatic time for me. Garett
literally carved up our vessel, and it was only my faith in his engineering
and building abilities that kept me calm.)

Saturday May 26, 2007

With the center cabin and cockpit now totally detached from
the rest of the boat and the mast being supported by the adjustable halyards
(the fixed wire shrouds and headstay had to be completely detached and we had
to have new chainplates manufactured by a local stainless shop), I slowly began
the process of jacking up ever so slowly the cabin with the mast still on top.
I would turn the jacks up 1 inch and then let the halyards go an inch. Inch
by inch we eventually raised it six inches. It only took a couple of hours to
go six inches but it then took a day and half to get it exactly lined up and
square by putting in special guide pieces so the cabin would slide into position.

Monday May 28, 2007

With the cabin and mast now up six inches I then began gluing
in the all the replacement bulkheads and joining pieces. There were about 20
pieces that need to be carefully fitted and glued in.

All the while we kept living in the port hull and started on
our 16 day Guinness World Record string of eating a tuna sandwich with a salad
for dinner closed up in the port "sleeping hull", closed up with fine
screens over the hatches. These screens not only keep out the mosquitoes, they
cut down on about 75% of air flow, so it is much hotter in our sleeping hull.
All our other daytime meals were eaten in our outdoor living area near our workshop.

Our shaded outdoor workshop, dining,
and living area.

Spanish Class

While we were doing our boat work we made numerous trips to
the local "ferreteria" (hardware store) which is operated by Jorge
and Elvia, who both speak very good English. Over the ensuing three weeks we
got to know them quite well. They asked us if we would be interested in meeting
with a local family who wanted to learn some English while we could learn some
more Spanish. We were very enthusiastic about the opportunity and agreed. Jorge
then introduced us to Salvador, his daughter Perla, and her boyfriend Giovanni.
Over the next three weeks we met Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 4 to 6
pm at the boatyard and had a combined English and Spanish class.

Jorge at his ferreteria with a
million and one products of
virtually everything.

Jorge’s lovely wife Elvia who works
side by side with him and also
knows where everything is and
what everything costs.

Here we are hard at work at our language class
in the boatyard.

After three weeks of lessons, Salvador invited
us to their home for lunch.

Salvador and Coyo’s home in Guaymas.

His caretta from which he sells
quesadillas on a street corner
from 7 to noon

With Perla in her family home.

Giovanni, Garett, Perla, Carllie and Salvador.

Salvador’s mother Josefina, called "Fita",
and his wife Coyo who is a fabulous cook!

We enjoyed huge prawns and fish deep-fried in batter,
salad vegetables and rice for lunch.

Our boatyard worker friends Miguel and Estevan

Meanwhile back at the boatyard…

One of our diversions while working so hard day in and day
out was Sissy, a very perky two-year-old German Short Hair pointer hunting dog,
owned by a fellow Canadian, Ron Pryde. Sissy loves to chase things,
particularly sticks and the tiny lizards that flit all over the boatyard from
under a boat to rock to bush to rock. She also took great interest in the boatyard
cat that we befriended. Sissy tried very persistently to provoke the cat into
running. If the cat would run, she could chase him! The cat was onto her, however,
and only got slower and slower, blinking slowly, walking ever more slowly, and
even nodding off while Sissy was around. Sissy would take runs at the cat, a
very pretty cream-colored feline who is in fact very long, and was very skinny
when we first got to know him. If Sissy had in fact ever connected in a serious
way with the cat, Sissy would have been the loser.

Garett and I threw so many sticks and lumber
for Sissy, we are sure our arms got longer.
Sissy saw our stack of bits and pieces of lumber
beside the boat as the Mother Lode, and liked to
pick the biggest chunk to chase.

The boatyard cat, who is by now a little fatter
slept in the shade under Light Wave
during the day, and yawned prodigiously
at Sissy’s frustrated attempts to provoke him.
into running away.

You could never throw too many sticks or
chunks of lumber for Sissy. It didn’t matter how
hot it was, 103 or 108 degrees F. She kept going
all day long. Her owner took her down to the shore
to fetch sticks in the water 3 or 4 times a day.

Sissy returning with her stick,
actually it was a piece of lumber from
our wood pile…

SIssy getting ready to go after I faked
to the left first

.. and off she goes at high speed…

Sissy the ultimate stick chasing dog.

Carllie: The funniest story about Sissy and the
cat was just a day before we left the boatyard. Garett was always trying to
provoke Sissy. He imitated her howling bark, which she did periodically throughout
the day and sometimes at night, just right to get her going. And if the cat
was under the boat, he would say, "Sissy! Go get the cat! Go get the cat!"
Well the last day, I hear him saying "Sissy! Grab the cat! Grab the cat!"
and I say, "Garett! Stop doing that! You’re just provoking her." Of
course, he keeps at it. About a minute later I hear Garett say "Oh no!
Sissy!" Then he’s saying "Sissy grabbed the cat!" Apparently,
the cat was sound asleep, and Sissy comes over to visit Garett. She spies the
cat. Garett is saying "Sissy! Grab the cat!" and quick as lightning
she bounds forward and grabs the sleeping cat by the neck, gives it a little
squeeze, then bounds back about three feet to the safety zone." The cat
jerks awake, twitched, looks dumbfounded and shocked (I mean, "I thought
you knew what the rules were here you dumb dog!"), makes sure Sissy is
back behind the no-go zone, and goes back to sleep. We laughed and laughed about
that one. It is a sign of Sissy’s frustration with the non-playing cat over
two weeks that she actually grabbed it. Luckily, the genes of hunting dogs keep
them from biting down on the birds they fetch so she didn’t do any serious damage
to the cat and get herself royally swiped in return.

This adorable female puppy, a couple of weeks old,
is the pup of one of the feral dogs who live
down by the water. We visit her most mornings
when we go down there to exercise. She’s much
bigger now, three weeks later!

This is how much she grew in
seven weeks. She already has significant
scars on her head from being "whupped"
by the bigger dogs to teach her to mind her
manners and stay in her own pack’s territory.

Garett with our new mascot.

Life in the boatyard

Carllie: Every day we woke up very early before
the hull got really hot with the sun. Sometimes before the sun got too hot I
went for half-hour runs up the road and back before we got started, and in the
last week Garett joined me once and went on his own once. We walked down to
the shore to do some morning exercises; I prepared some fruit for breakfast
(often a huge piece of papaya with lime and a banana each or a big piece of
watermelon), and Garett would start his boatwork, while I swept down the inside
and outside walking areas of the boat, did laundry, went to town to buy produce
or work supplies, made meals, washed dishes in the ladies washroom, or did laundry
outside in a pail.

Here is our shaded workshop
and outdoor living and dining area.

Carllie at her outdoor laundry spot.

This is the mesquite tree next to Light Wave that
was almost dead when we arrived, and grew very
lush and spread while we were there as every day
we dumped our grey water on it. By the time we
left, it was providing good "sombre" (shade) for
Carllie’s laundry and the workers lunch break.

About Author

Garett Hennigan

Garett Hennigan is a mechanical engineer who in partnership with his wife, Carllie, built a 28 foot catamaran, Light Wave, in 1999. He has sailed extensively with his wife through Mexico, Hawaii and now back in the Pacific northwest with over 20,000 sailing miles and over 5000 hours of boatbuilding experience.